LaSmith receives local PEO Chapter $2,500 scholarship

Press release

PEO Chapter AZ will be presenting the Star Scholarship to Willie LaSmith, a 2020 graduate of Havre High School.

Willie is the daughter of Roger and Julianne LaSmith of Havre. Willie is also the honorary granddaughter of Pat Floyd, a long-time P.E.O. Chapter AZ member.

P.E.O. was founded on January 21, 1869, by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Their desire to start their own sisterhood was a result of the exclusion of some of the friends by the local sorority at their college. This circle of kindred spirits - bonded by their enthusiasm for women's opportunities - eventually expanded to include women off campus as well. Today, P.E.O. has grown from that tiny membership of seven to nearly a quarter of a million members in chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada.

True to the mission of promoting educational opportunities for women, education continues to be the primary philanthropy of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. In fact, the P.E.O. Sisterhood proudly sponsors six international philanthropies, or projects, designed to assist women with their educational goals.

The P.E.O. STAR Scholarship is a highly competitive onetime $2,500 scholarship recognizing graduating high school senior women who demonstrate outstanding leadership, academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community service and who plan to pursue full-or part-time post-secondary education in the United States or Canada beginning in the fall following their high school graduation. The P.E.O. STAR Scholarships are given once each year for the ensuing academic year. The number of scholarships given is in accordance with the annual funds available.

Willie is a very active student at Havre High School. She participated in the Acapella Choir, the Hi-Liters select choral group, Student Council and MBI, the anti-bullying campaign at HHS. She also swam for the HHS swim team, and was the manager for the cross country team for several years. In past years Willie has also been a "volunteen" for the Northern Montana Hospital Volunteer Auxiliary. Willie will be attending Montana State University in Bozeman this fall. She will be taking classes for pre-optometry.

"Willie perfectly personifies the type of young lady that this scholarship is meant to recognize," said Judi Dritshulas, a member of PEO Chapter AZ. "Out of 2,000 applicants only 880 scholarships were awarded. The caliber of applicants is very high, which makes this an even higher honor for Willie."

People are encouraged to read about these opportunities on the group's public webpage at http://www.peointernational.org .